Inaugural family fun day raises valuable funds for charity and increases awareness of premium tours
One of the first Irizar i8 integrals built to touring specification was the star of the show at
Chandlers Coach Travel’s family summer fun day on Wednesday (July 27).
According to Chandlers director Margaret I’Anson, the new 13.2m tri-axle 46-seater, which is fitted with additional equipment such as a fridge, centre servery, extra storage and high-capacity water tank, was “very popular” among visitors. The latest addition to the Westbury, Wiltshire-based fleet was parked alongside two Irizar i6s at the event, which was held at Trowbridge rugby club.
“This is the first time we’ve held a family summer fun day,” Margaret told CBW. “We wanted to launch the new coach, promote our day trips during the school holidays and raise money for charity. I’m a keen supporters of Free Wheelers – volunteers who run the blood bikes. Their work is invaluable – they need all the support they can get.
“People in our community are familiar with our contract vehicles, but they don’t get to see our touring coaches as they don’t stay local owing to the nature of their role. This event allowed them to get up close and personal with one of our Platinum-specification vehicles, which is used on our door-to-door tours – as well as meet some of our team.
“We hold an annual open day in October, when we normally launch our brochure. While that’s about selling holidays, Wednesday’s event was targeted at families.”
Family-friendly activities laid on included balloon making, a bouncy castle, face painting, juggling, an ice cream van, a hog roast and a raffle. An added attraction came when one visitors brought along an owl.
Margaret was keen to thank the support received from Trowbridge rugby club: “We sponsor the rugby club – we do their transport. We paid to hire what is a lovely venue, and the club did its part too, opening the bar and welcoming our visitors.”
She concluded: “It was very well attended – despite it being our first time and the fact it was only promoted on social media. We had a steady flow of visitors all day. We had in excess of 300 visitors. Having effectively dipped our toe in the water, next year’s event is going to be bigger and better.”
